Vet suffering from PTSD suspended from MI college after requesting non-muslim counselor
79 replies, posted
And what if being around people of a certain race/culture that a former soldier had to fight against did trigger his ptsd? It's not fair to put him in that situation on his first visit. It should be built up to. Requesting someone that doesn't remind you of your trauma is fair.
Based on the information given, I have to agree that his suspension was inappropriate. A counselor or therapist is supposed to be a safe and neutral person to talk to, somebody you can trust to be nonjudgmental and to exercise discretion in your case. While there's nothing wrong with the counselor being a Muslim, or even choosing to wear religious garb, I can understand how somebody suffering from PTSD as a result of fighting in the Middle East might feel uncomfortable or awkward discussing that with somebody of that cultural heritage. There may be a fear of judgment, an irrational fear of the ethnicity or religion as a whole as a result of his mental illness, or, as indicated in this case, simply a worry that what he needs to say would hurt or frighten her. After all, war is an ugly and regrettable thing, and he may well have witnessed some true atrocities committed against Muslims, even women and children, that he just couldn't bring himself to talk to her about.
The veteran being disrespectful to this woman, by shaming her for her faith or ethnicity, would be wildly out of line, but simply requesting to speak with somebody who he feels more comfortable with to help him through his mental health crisis isn't a problem.
I question the school's response, and I question whether or not the source is forthcoming with [I]all[/I] of the relevant details. I have been heavily involved with veterans' service organizations, and[URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2093329/Crowd-100-000-gathers-homecoming-parade-Iraq-veterans.html"] was even a co-founder of one that went on to raise over $100,000 towards mental health, job counseling, and family services for veterans[/URL]. I am all too familiar with the plight that disabled and mentally ill veterans face post-service. PTSD is a crippling mental illness, but so few people seem to understand just how debilitating and frightening it can be for the person suffering it, and for their friends and family. Veterans with PTSD are often thrown to the wayside because they can't get the help they need, and because people don't understand what's wrong with them.
That being said, there could be more to this story. PTSD sufferers have been known to do or say inappropriate things as a result of their illness. If he said or did something to make this woman feel threatened, which the source may have neglected to mention to further its agenda, then I might have to side with the school on the grounds that it could be unsafe for him to be there, and would find their insistence that he get professional psychiatric help before being allowed to return to campus appropriate. Regardless of the circumstances, I hope this dude gets the help he needs. Making his road towards reintegration to civilian life even harder only makes it that more unlikely that he ever will.
[QUOTE=OvB;47808228]you obviously didn't read the article. He doesn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. Probably because he needs to talk about killing muslims to a Muslim. It's not that he holds any prejudices towards muslims or associates the head dress with his ptsd.[/QUOTE]
Yeah more people should read the article instead of assuming he's somehow getting triggered or that he hates muslims.
[QUOTE]
“It’s not that I didn’t want to participate…[B] I didn’t want to traumatize her and it wasn’t a good environment to be talking about [my disabilities] with that specific person[/B],” Rawls said.
[/QUOTE]
Just give him a new councillor. I really can't believe some people agree with his suspension lmao
[QUOTE=Swebonny;47808381]Yeah more people should read the article instead of assuming he's somehow getting triggered or that he hates muslims.[/QUOTE]
This is why Bad Reading needs to return
[QUOTE=Nikota;47807697]She fucked up. One of the big rules of that kind of counseling is to reveal only the bare minimum about oneself. Putting their religion out there is sort of breaking convention.[/QUOTE]
depends if she's wearing something like
[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Woman_in_niqab%2C_Aleppo_%282010%29.jpg/640px-Woman_in_niqab%2C_Aleppo_%282010%29.jpg[/IMG]
or
[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Female_hijab_in_Islam.jpg/800px-Female_hijab_in_Islam.jpg[/IMG]
Former is too much but latter seems reasonable.
[QUOTE=Svinnik;47808689]depends if she's wearing something like
[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Woman_in_niqab%2C_Aleppo_%282010%29.jpg/640px-Woman_in_niqab%2C_Aleppo_%282010%29.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
I've never seen anyone wear this
[QUOTE=KillerJaguar;47808743]I've never seen anyone wear this[/QUOTE]
I live in Boston and I see people wearing a version of this almost everyday. It's gotten common enough that my little brother thinks that they are ninjas.
[QUOTE=Cliff2;47807681]Edit: Mississipi not Missouri.[/QUOTE]
Even if you meant one or the other, the thread title is still wrong.
MI = Michigan
MS = Mississippi
MO = Missouri
[QUOTE=Svinnik;47808956]I live in Boston and I see people wearing a version of this almost everyday. It's gotten common enough that my little brother thinks that they are ninjas.[/QUOTE]
Maybe it's because I live in Florida, where wearing that would cook you
[QUOTE=Coridan;47808992]Even if you meant one or the other, the thread title is still wrong.
MI = Michigan
MS = Mississippi
MO = Missouri[/QUOTE]
GJ me then. For this threads purpose, Michigan is now abbreviated as MC. Mississipi has full rights and privileges to MI.
[QUOTE=Svinnik;47808689]depends if she's wearing something like
[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Woman_in_niqab%2C_Aleppo_%282010%29.jpg/640px-Woman_in_niqab%2C_Aleppo_%282010%29.jpg[/IMG]
or
[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Female_hijab_in_Islam.jpg/800px-Female_hijab_in_Islam.jpg[/IMG]
Former is too much but latter seems reasonable.[/QUOTE]
I disagree. It does not depend on which one of these 2 it is. They both hold a lot of symbolism that a professional counselor should not have.
[QUOTE=itisjuly;47809060]I disagree. It does not depend on which one of these 2 it is. They both hold a lot of symbolism that a professional counselor should not have.[/QUOTE]
When does it stop though? For example, would it be acceptable for a Jew to wear his kippah if he worked as a therapist? As long as the religion doesn't color the judgement of the counselor, it's fine imo.
[QUOTE=Svinnik;47809162]When does it stop though? [B]For example, would it be acceptable for a Jew to wear his kippah if he worked as a therapist?[/B] As long as the religion doesn't color the judgement of the counselor, it's fine imo.[/QUOTE]
from cross necklace to kippah i don't think any of that sort of thing is necessarily appropriate as a counselor
[QUOTE=KillerJaguar;47809026]Maybe it's because I live in Florida, where wearing that would cook you[/QUOTE]
As opposed to the Sahara :v:
[editline]26th May 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=KillerJaguar;47808743]I've never seen anyone wear this[/QUOTE]
You mustn't live in a big city, then.
[QUOTE=KillerJaguar;47808743]I've never seen anyone wear this[/QUOTE]
Fuck man I lived in a pretty rich area that had a sizeable Arab and Bosniak community and I've seen it several times.
[QUOTE=Svinnik;47809162]When does it stop though? For example, would it be acceptable for a Jew to wear his kippah if he worked as a therapist? As long as the religion doesn't color the judgement of the counselor, it's fine imo.[/QUOTE]Unless he's a jewish counselor focusing on jews, no. A counselor should be neutral. No crosses, no jew candles, no korans on the table. Counseling is one of these jobs where you should not express your views and stay as neutral as possible.
How much of a retarded asshole you have to be in order to NOT understand what sort of thing this guy went through?
Hell, he is not rejecting that specific counselor just because "fuck off muslims" but more like he was in a deep shit hole surrounded by people who practiced that religion and saw a crap ton of people die in that area. It's not something he can say "oh, don't worry about it, my panic attacks, my nightmares and all the triggered responses are just something I choose to have"
Gaaah, Idiots. How I wish the stupids who called this decision get rktd so hard. Like real hard.
[QUOTE=Cutthecrap;47809414]How much of a retarded asshole you have to be in order to NOT understand what sort of thing this guy went through?
Hell, he is not rejecting that specific counselor just because "fuck off muslims" but more like he was in a deep shit hole surrounded by people who practiced that religion and saw a crap ton of people die in that area. It's not something he can say "oh, don't worry about it, my panic attacks, my nightmares and all the triggered responses are just something I choose to have"
Gaaah, Idiots. How I wish the stupids who called this decision get rktd so hard. Like real hard.[/QUOTE]
it isn't even her being a muslim triggering his ptsd, he doesn't want her to feel uncomfortable and himself awkward since he would probably be talking a lot about killing muslim people
[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;47809436]it isn't even her being a muslim triggering his ptsd, he doesn't want her to feel uncomfortable and himself awkward since he would probably be talking a lot about killing muslim people[/QUOTE]
Even worse. A much better reason.
This is an absolutely abhorrent way to treat ANYBODY, let alone a veteran suffering from PTSD, depression, and pain.
If I were him I'd switch colleges and sue the one that did this to him. It's bullshit.
This is a case where political correctness has gone too far.
[QUOTE=Ninja Gnome;47809198]from cross necklace to kippah i don't think any of that sort of thing is necessarily appropriate as a counselor[/QUOTE]
It should be fine, however if the guy is a victim of the Palestinian occupation they should probably avoid pairing him up with openly Jewish guy. What the counselor does or wears should be tailored to the person who needs the counselling.
[QUOTE=Sunday_Roast;47807980]Everything is fine and complying when you're complaining to the school about whatever arbitrary triggers give by your special-snowflake-syndrome-induced PTSD.
But god forbid that a man who has been shot at and bombed by people representing a branch of a certain culture; is highly uncomfortable with someone wearing the same cultural clothes those people actively trying to murder him for a long period. And people lose their shit.
Can't this just be fixed by temporarily dying his hair turquoise and claiming that he's severely triggered by turbans and the like after the first Harry Potter film and just drop the suspension.[/QUOTE]
Look I hate the special snowflakes too but there is a difference between a fattie getting triggered by seeing other people eat cake and having PTSD because you were dodging bullets and bombs in Afghanistan.
[QUOTE=Nikota;47807697]She fucked up. One of the big rules of that kind of counseling is to reveal only the bare minimum about oneself. Putting their religion out there is sort of breaking convention.[/QUOTE]
Not to mention that a hijab is scary to any middle east vet. Scary at the level of instinct.
Every book by a vet reveals that contractors and soldiers were really scared by hijabs because they never knew which one had a suicide vest underneath and they couldn't even find out until it blows.
Terrifying. What a torture for the marine.
[QUOTE=MuffinZerg;47810415]Not to mention that a hijab is scary to any middle east vet. Scary at the level of instinct.
Every book by a vet reveals that contractors and soldiers were really scared by hijabs because they never knew which one had a suicide vest underneath and they couldn't even find out until it blows.
Terrifying. What a torture for the marine.[/QUOTE]
it doesn't say he's scared of hijabs dude, he would just feel uncomfortable talking to a Muslim about fighting and killing other Muslims. if anything he's trying not to offend HER sensibilities
[QUOTE=Limed00d;47808028]ugh I hope you realize just how dumb this post is
besides, even though ptsd is awful it doesnt justify his request, mainly because he should learn the differene between the enemy and someone who isn't
ptsd isnt something you can fix overnight, true, but if this person has these kinds of association issues then he'd be better off receiving specialized therapy than continue to enable his fear[/QUOTE]
please tell me more about a disorder you know absolutely nothing about i'd love to hear it.
This is not a reliable source. It's making what is likely standard operating conduct for schools out to seem like a deliberate targeting of this person. I'm pretty sure it's playing to your fears too, there's no such thing as "traditional Muslim garb;" "Muslim garb" is based on country of origin with their own traditions, so it's very clear its being dishonest for the sake of being sensationalist. The article even says (of course completely low-key) that he's continuing his education at the school anyway.
[editline]26th May 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=Sunday_Roast;47807980]Everything is fine and complying when you're complaining to the school about whatever arbitrary triggers give by your special-snowflake-syndrome-induced PTSD.
But god forbid that a man who has been shot at and bombed by people representing a branch of a certain culture; is highly uncomfortable with someone wearing the same cultural clothes those people actively trying to murder him for a long period. And people lose their shit.
Can't this just be fixed by temporarily dying his hair turquoise and claiming that he's severely triggered by turbans and the like after the first Harry Potter film and just drop the suspension.[/QUOTE]
This is exactly the kind of person this article is attempting to target.
You obviously didn't read the article, or else you'd know the school it's talking about is a Christian school in Mississippi. Maybe as a Finnish person you don't quite know enough about academia in the United States, but a Christian school in Mississippi is going to be far from a liberal bastion.
[QUOTE=Coridan;47808992]Even if you meant one or the other, the thread title is still wrong.
MI = Michigan
MS = Mississippi
MO = Missouri[/QUOTE]
Why the fuck does America only use two letters for state codes?
[QUOTE=Doom64hunter;47807765]it's kind of xenophobic to switch counselor just because of their religion.[/QUOTE]
It's really not. It's more of a help-guy-not-flip-the-fuck-out-in-middle-of-class kind of switch.
[editline]26th May 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=helifreak;47811084]Why the fuck does America only use two letters for state codes?[/QUOTE]
Aside from those three, there's no real reason we'd need more than 2 that I can think of.
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